General Requirements for
Performing Work at Heights
A.Duty to provide fall
protection – Where employees are required or allowed to walk or work
while performing assigned tasks on a shall guard by a standard railing or the
equivalent, every open-sided floor or platform 4 feet (1.2m) or more above
adjacent floor or ground level on all open sides except where there is entrance
to a ramp, stairway, or fixed ladder. Additionally, the railing shall be
provided with a toe board when beneath the open sides where; a person can pass,
there is moving machinery or there is equipment with which falling materials
could create a hazard. In situations where guarding requirements are not
applicable because employees are exposed to falls from an elevated surface on
other than a predictable and regular basis, personal protective equipment or
another effective fall protection methods shall be provided.
B.Fall Protection
Hierarchy of Controls – The following establishes fall protection hierarchy of
controls. It is the order of priority in which fall protection solutions shall
be applied when performing a working at heights assessment.
i. Can the work be
performed at ground level?
ii. Can the fall hazard be eliminated through the use of
engineering controls such as guardrails, covers or guarded work platforms?
iii. Can an alternative work platform such as a MEWP or scaffold
be used to safely access the work?
iv. Can a fall/travel restraint system be used to eliminate the
risk of a fall?
v. Can a fall arrest system be used to stop the worker from
hitting the lower level in the event of a fall?
vi. When the above options are determined infeasible, consult
the local EHS team for further guidance.
C. Fall
Hazard Assessment – Prior to commencing any task involving working at heights
an assessment of the work area must be completed. It is the site’s
responsibility to identify safe methods of work using a site approved planning
technique. The working at heights assessment should address: total fall
distance needed, fall protection devices to be used, obstruction(s), swing fall
hazards as well as rescue planning.
D. Fall
Protection General Requirements
i. Personal fall arrest
systems or components shall be used only for the purpose of employee fall
protection.
ii. Use of fall protection equipment is permitted only after the
user has been trained per manufacturer’s instructions on its specific use,
inspection and care requirements.
iii. Personal fall arrest systems (including the anchorage, body
harness and all connecting components) shall be inspected prior to each use and
defective components shall be tagged and/or removed from service.
iv. Personal fall arrest systems or components subjected to
impact loading shall be immediately removed from service and shall not be used
again for employee protection unless determined by a competent person suitable
for reuse.
v. Manufacturer’s requirements shall be followed related to
equipment use, inspection, maintenance, storage and care.
vi. Manufacturer’s labels that come attached to working at
heights equipment shall be left on the equipment. Equipment found without
manufacturer’s labels shall be taken out of service and tagged to prevent
further use.
vii. Component compatibility is to be validated before use.
viii. Use of body belts for fall arrest is prohibited.
Fall Protection Equipment
Requirements
1. Anchorages – An anchorage is a
secure point of attachment for lifelines, lanyards or deceleration devices.
Anchorages used for the purpose of fall arrest shall be capable of supporting
at least 5,000 pounds (22.2 kN) per employee
attached. Alternatively, a fall protection system may be designed, installed,
and used as part of a complete personal fall arrest system which maintains a
safety factor of at least two, under the supervision of a Qualified Person
(certified anchor). Both are considered acceptable for fall protection so long
as they meet the general requirements and the performance criteria specified
for their type. General requirements for all fall arrest anchorages include:
i. Located as high as
possible to minimize the free fall distance to and arresting forces to <
1800 pounds. (8kN).
ii. Located to prevent contact with obstructions or the ground
below.
iii. Located directly over the working position whenever
possible to minimize swing falls.
1.1 Non-certified Anchor – Non-certified
anchors are those where the specific strength is unknown but can be judged by
an Competent Person to limit potential free fall to 6 feet (1.8m) or less and
be capable of supporting at least 5,000 pounds (22.2 kN)
per employee attached. Examples of non-certified anchors include I-beams or
structural members of a building.
1.2 Certified Anchors – Certified
anchors areanchors which are engineered.
They are anchors installed for the specific purpose of arresting a fall as a
component of a personal fall arrest system (PFAS). Certified anchors shall be
designed, installed and used as a part of a complete personal fall arrest
system which maintains a safety factor of at least two, under the supervision
of a Qualified Person.
i. Only Qualified Persons
shall design certified anchorage points and horizontal lifeline systems.
ii. Sites shall not allow the use of a certified fall arrest
anchor point by employees unless it is known that the anchor point is capable
of supporting at least 5,000 pounds (22.2 kN)
per employee attached or is designed, installed, and used as part of a complete
personal fall arrest system which
Maintains a safety factor of at least two, under the supervision
of a Qualified Person.
iii. As with personal fall arrest systems certified anchors
shall be inspected before use and in accordance with manufacturer’s criteria.
iv. Certified anchors subject to impact loading or damage due to
arresting a fall, natural disaster or any other event that could leave the
anchor structurally unsound shall be removed from service until inspected by a
competent or qualified person and determined to be safe for reuse.
v. Certified anchors shall be used exclusively for the purpose
of fall arrest. Under the following circumstances certified fall arrest anchors
may require additional identification or marking specifying their usage
exclusively as an anchorage point;
a. where there are anchor
points that are at risk of being used for purposes other than fall arrest such
as hoisting,
b. where fall arrest anchors have unique performance criteria or
limitations that may not be obvious to a user such as, an anchor that supports
more than one employee or an anchor that requires limited arresting forces, or
c. where the intended
purpose of a fall arrest anchor is unclear, such as due to similar looking
systems in the vicinity which are not approved for the purpose of fall arrest.
NOTE: Training, site orientation, or operational and maintenance
procedures on anchorage points restrictions and usage is an acceptable method
in-lieu of marking
The following table describes minimum strength requirements for
both certified and non-certified anchors. Anchor strength values given below
are minimum static strength requirements for one attached employee. For
multiple-employee systems, multiply the minimum strength values below times the
number of personnel connected to the anchor.
|
Type |
Non-certified anchorage requirements as
determined by a Competent Person |
Certified anchorage requirements validated
by a Qualified Person. |
|
Fall Arrest |
5,000lbs. (22.2 kN) |
2 x Maximum Arresting force |
|
Work Positioning |
3,000lbs. (13.3 kN) |
2 x foreseeable force |
|
Fall Restraint |
3,000lbs. (13.3 kN) |
2 x foreseeable force |
|
Horizontal Lifeline |
Not Applicable |
2 x maximum line load |
|
Rescue |
3,000lbs. (13.3 kN) |
5 x applied load |
Table 1.
Note: A fall arrest system that correctly uses a shock absorber
and is anchored well overhead will exhibit arresting forces between ~900 pounds
(4kN) for a self-retracting lanyard or ~ 1350 pounds (6kN) for a 6’ (1.8m)
lanyard.
2. Horizontal Life Line (HLL) – A HLLis an
anchor system that incorporatesa flexible
line that spans horizontally between two end anchorages. This system offers
employees freedom of horizontal movement.
i. HLL’s shall be designed
by a Qualified Person.
ii. Snaphooks shall attach
to a HLL connector rather than directly to the HLL.
iii. Post install testing of HLL lifelines and anchors prior to
use is recommended.
3. Connectors – Connectors are
used tocouple connecting parts of a
personal fall arrest system together. Compatibility of each connection in the
personal fall arrest system shall be evaluated to prevent the risk of
unintentional “roll out” due to compression on the snap hook gates.
4. Full Body Harness – A full body harness
is a body support devicedesigned to safely
distribute the impact forces of a fall through the employee’s body.
i. Choose the style/type
that best serves its intended use and fits the employee best.
ii. A D-ring extension is sometimes used to assist employees in
more easily reaching D-rings for tie- off. The extension length shall be taken
into account when assessing an employee’s total free fall distance.
5. Ladder Safety System – A Ladder Safety
System is a fall protection system for fixed ladders. A ladder safety system
uses a fall arrester on a vertical cable or track attached to a fixed ladder.
This system travels up and down the ladder with the employee by connecting to
the full
body harness front
D-ring.
i. Ladder safety systems
shall not to be used for work positioning.
ii. Ladder safety devices may be used on tower, water tank, and
chimney ladders over 20 feet (6m) in unbroken length in lieu of cage
protection. No landing platform is required in these cases.
iii. The centerline of the
carrier and the point of attachment to the full body harness shall be no
greater than 9 inches (23cm).
iv. All ladder safety devices shall be maintained in accordance
with manufacturer requirements.
6. Lanyard – Lanyard is used for
connecting the full body harness to a deceleration device, lifeline, or anchor.
There are a number of different lanyard types. Understanding their function and
limitations is necessary.Lanyardgeneral
requirements include:
i. Lanyards shall have
double-locking snap hooks.
ii. The length of a single lanyard shall not exceed 6 feet
(1.8m) unless designed by the manufacturer and used in accordance with its
intended purpose.
iii. All lanyards used for the purpose of fall arrest shall be
equipped with a shock absorber or have a deceleration component which limits
maximum deceleration distance an employee travels to 3.5 feet (1.07 m).
iv. Lanyards shall have a minimum breaking strength of 5,000
pounds (22.2kN).
6.1 Adjustable lanyards – Adjustable lanyard
is a lanyard with hardware that allows the employee to adjust the total lanyard
length. Adjustable lanyards are often useful for fall restraint applications
6.2 Y-lanyards – Y-lanyard is a
specially designed lanyard that is shaped like a Y with one connection point
for the employee and two lanyards for connecting to anchors. This configuration
enables an employee to maintain connection while transferring between
anchorages, thereby maintaining continuous (100%) fall protection.
i. Two snap hooks
shouldn’t be connected to the same anchorage.
ii. The unused end of a Y–lanyard should not be connected to a
spare D-ring on the full body harness (such as the hip D-ring). Doing so will
create double arrest forces and potentially side loading during a fall.
7. Self-Retracting Lifeline (SRL) – AnSRL is
a deceleration device containing a drum-wound line which adjusts in and out
during normal employee movement. During a fall, the drum locks and arrests the
fall. When used appropriately, SRL’s reduce free fall distance, total clearance
needed, and maximum arresting forces. The following are SRL general use
requirements:
i. In cases where an SRL
is mounted high overhead, a means to access the snap hook will be provided that
doesn’t require the SRL snap hook and line to be left in an extended position
(i.e. a tag line, resource to pull the line down).
ii. Care should be taken to reduce swing in the event of a fall
by working ask close to the anchor point as possible. See manufacturer guidance
on working distance from the SLR to reduce swing fall.
iii. SRL’s shall not be used with horizontal life lines unless
specifically designed for that type of use.
8. Snaphook– A snap hook is a
connecting hardware component which automatically locks in the closed position.
i. Snaphooks shall be a locking type designed and used to
prevent disengagement of the snaphook by
the contact of the keeper by the connected member.
ii. Snaphooks shall not be
engaged to any object which is incompatibly shaped or dimensioned in
relation to the snaphook such that unintentional disengagement could
occur by the connected object being able to depress the snaphook keeper and release itself.
iii. All snaphooksunless designed
for shall never connect directly to:
a. Webbing, rope or wire rope,
b. Another snap hook
c. A D-ring to which another snap hook or other connector is
attached
d. A horizontal lifeline
9. Vertical lifelines (VLL) – A VLL is anchored
overhead and used in conjunction with a fall arrester that travels along the
rope and is attached to the employee. VLL’s are typically used as a fall arrest
system when travel along long vertical lengths are required.
i. VLLs are only designed
for use by one employee at a time.
ii. Maximum length of a VLL is 300 feet (91.4m), as the weight
of rope can affect the rope/rope grab connection.
iii. Ropes are to be weighted at the bottom to keep slack out of
the line.
iv. Rope stretch shall be taken into consideration in evaluation
of the total fall clearance calculation.
v. VLL’s shall never carry any additional load such as tools or
work platforms.
10. Fall Arrester (rope grab) – A Rope Grab Fall
Arrestor is a device which travels vertically along a VLL to provide an
anchorage which can be adjusted to be just above the height at which an
employee is working. A Fall Arrestor may be either Manual or
Automatic. In the event of a fall, the arrestor shall lock onto the rope
arresting the fall in 1 -2 feet (.3 to .6m). There are two types of fall
arrestors:
Automatic arrestors: do not requiring any manual assistance to
move vertically on the VLL.
Manual arrestors: do require manual assistance by the user to
open and close the locking mechanism to facilitate movement up and down the VLL.
General fall arrestor use requirements include:
i. Ensure that the rope
and arrestor are compatible.
ii. Use care to orient the arrestor in the correct direction.
See the manufacturer’s instructions for clarification.
iii. Fall arrestors should always be positioned as high above
the employee as possible to reduce free fall distance.